


Drudgery at Imperial Human Resources: A Sith's Story

by marly4077



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Human Resources, Sith, Sith Holocron, Sith Shenanigans, Workplace, Workplace Relationship, Workplace Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-08-23 07:40:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8319493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marly4077/pseuds/marly4077
Summary: After his Sith cult is destroyed at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the clairvoyant Jac seeks out Emperor Palpatine to further his training.  Finding difficulty getting to the Sith Lord, Jac takes an entry level position at Imperial Human Resources.  There he encounters remedial, mind-numbing tasks, irritating co-workers perfect for pranking, and a beautiful and mysterious manager who might either be the key to his future or his ultimate destruction.





	1. First Day at Work

**Chapter One**

**First Day at Work**

            Jac, last surviving member of the Sith cult The Scholars, stood outside the dreary main building of Imperial Human Resources.  The rather boring structure, when compared to the surrounding palace and military center, did not seem inviting in the least, and Jac had to take a deep breath and access the Force to physically push him through the front doors to his first day of work.

            When the Scholar’s station in the Unknown Regions was destroyed at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi and his beautiful but ultimately destructive pilot lover Mayli, Jac became the lone survivor and heir to the cult’s vast fortune as well as a holocron he’d rescued but couldn’t open.  Still, while he had a plan on how to proceed, he’d spent most of his life, twenty years in fact, since the time he was five, with the cult.  The research facility, which allowed these Sith to remain hidden while they performed experiments with the Dark Side, was all he really knew, and while his Force gift manifested itself through foresight, he needed further training from a master.

            Thus, his decision to come to Coruscant and seek out the most powerful Sith in the galaxy, Emperor Palpatine.

            But Jac soon found getting to Palpatine nearly impossible, even with millions of credits and the knowledge of the Dark Side at his disposal. He’d glimpsed him from afar, getting into the royal Imperial yacht from his private landing platform off the palace, but making requests with the offices proved futile.  In fact one secretary, a gaunt, almost transparent-faced man, laughed at him in a raspy cackle.

            So, after securing a luxury apartment and a professional, aristocratic wardrobe, he’d marched into the Imperial recruitment offices to join the ranks.  Those closest to the Emperor appeared to be military; he’d begin there.

            After an application in which he used one of his false surnames, an intelligence and aptitude test, a physical examination, and finally a series of strength and endurance tests, he felt certain he’d enter the military ranks, perhaps even as an officer.  But when he arrived and waited in the grey holding room of the recruitment office, with the other potential candidates, he’d been shocked to see he’d been passed up for any sort of military post.  He’d been placed in a data entry position in Imperial Human Resources, to begin in two days time.

            Returning to his apartment, downcast and flustered, he’d thrown himself on the couch, pouting.  Data entry?  Human resources?  Stang, how could he ever get to the Emperor?

            But the positives began to come up in his mind.  The offices were near the palace, and he’d have access to employee records.  While he’d been one of the weaker members of his cult, this disadvantage in Force strength led him to be crafty in other survival skills, important when on a space station full of Sith.  He’d figure out something, he always did.  And in the meantime, he could work on his clairvoyance skills himself, and continue his attempts to open the Scholars’ remaining holocron.

Also, he knew something the Emperor didn’t know, the existence of a Jedi who escaped the purge, Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Within days upon arriving on Coruscant, he sought out a slicer in one of the lower levels, trying to find out the identity of Kenobi, the auburn-haired Force-user who came to Jac several times in visions, who he finally met in the flesh on Tatooine.  The slicer he found looked shocked when he asked who Kenobi was.

            “General Kenobi?  The Jedi Master?” the watery-eyed, greasy-clothed man wheezed.  “No need to slice, son.  He was a General in the Clone Wars, destroyed along with the other Jedi.  Everyone on Coruscant knows from the holonews…”

            Jac shrugged, knowing he’d wasted his time and the hundred credits he’d given the man.  “Been in the Outer Rim.”

            The man nodded.  “I suppose news and names dissipate the further out one gets.  Plus, all records of the Jedi have been destroyed.”

            Jac nodded and left.  He could have guessed Kenobi to be a Jedi. But the man did say Kenobi was thought dead, when Jac knew for a fact he was alive, quite well, and banging that blasted blonde pilot on Tatooine.  Hmmm….useful information he’d put away for later.

            Entering Imperial Human Resources now, and heading to the lift to take him to the offices on the third floor, he felt his usual upbeat spirit drain.  And entering the office itself depleted him further.  While the Sith research station had been alive, teeming with the excitement over the seeking of knowledge and discovery, breathing with the Dark Side, the air of this space felt thick with drudgery, monotony, and boredom.  The dominate color of gray clashed directly with the deep forest green robes Jac chose for his first day, looking striking with his dark eyes, pale skin, and mess of floppy black hair.  Everyone else wore colors complementing the grayness of the office, their faces ashen and lank as they sat at individual desks, quietly entering data into the servers and holoscreens in front of them.  Jac wanted to scream and use the Force to obliterate the place, and he’d only been in the room one minute.

            Keep the goal in mind, he reminded himself.  Palpatine.  You’re a member of the Empire now.  Patience, the Sith’s greatest strength.  Patience, perseverance, planning.

            A tall, unsmiling human male approached.  In fact, as Jac gazed around the room, he noticed everyone to be human.  So much for diversity in the work place.

            “Are you Jac?” the man said with a deadpan tone.

            “Yes, I’m….”

            “Come this way.  I’ll show you to your work station,” the man said, turning and walking into the maze of desks, not one of the people they passed looking up.

            A cold metallic desk and semi-comfortable rolling chair awaited him.  He sat down and glanced across from him, a tall pasty-faced human sitting opposite, his greasy brown hair in a bowl-cut, making his bulging blue eyes stand out.  Jac would have preferred any other view than this.

            The manager set down a small box of data chips on Jac’s desk.  “You are to enter these into our main system.  Double check employee names, their insurance preferences, and retirement accounts.  You are working in the new stormtrooper division, so make sure you also enter in information about their specific wishes when they die in the line of duty.”

            “When?” asked Jac.  “Not…um…if?”

            The man’s expression did not change, and he merely shrugged.  “Your direct superior is Callie.  Contact her with questions.  You get an hour for lunch.”  The man turned and walked away.

            Jac sighed heavily and turned on his data console and holoscreen.  When he’d been on the Scholar’s base, he’d done data entry before for some of the experiments, especially when he apprenticed with different masters throughout the cult.  But as a grown Sith, he found this work to be remedial, almost insulting, especially since he knew his Force gift of clairvoyance. 

            You’re undercover, he reminded himself.  And he got to work.

            An hour after entering in a couple of new employees, he looked up at his co-worker across the desk.

            “I’m Jac, by the way,” he said brightly.

            The man glanced up.  “Dew.” He went back to work.

            “Um…Dew…how long have you been here?”

            “I worked in human resources for the Republic and was absorbed into this department after the Clone Wars.  So…ten years.”

            Jac raised an eyebrow.  “And you’ve been doing this the whole time?  How do you handle this?”

            Dew’s bulbous eyes narrowed.  “This is noble work, and if you don’t think so why don’t you leave now.”

            The man went back to work, and Jac shook his head, his eyes shifting to the clock.  Kriff, had he only been here ninety minutes?  And he had three more hours until lunch.  How was he going to survive without breaking his cover and destroying all these people in a blaze of Force lightening.  Hmmm…that might get Palpatine’s attention…

            Instead, as he entered new recruits into the system, he daydreamed about that evening, when he’d head to the high end night clubs to pick up some beautiful woman.  He’d certainly need a good screw after a day like this.  And Coruscant proved ripe with women ready for a good time, which Jac showed them, sometimes using a bit of Force manipulation, but only on a rare occasion.  He was rich, handsome, and charming.  Also, the large population on the planet ensured he never saw them again after, if he left them alive of course.

            He’d only killed once since his arrival on Coruscant, a younger woman who claimed to be from a wealthy aristocratic family close to the Emperor.  After they had sex, and he dozed in his bed, exhausted and satisfied, he awoke to discover her attempting to break into his hidden wall vault.   He simply snapped her windpipe from across the room, then took the body to the rubbish chute in the apartment complex, which consisted of 3,000 luxury units, for disposal.  The death, or the report of a missing woman, never made the holonews.  And he didn’t feel bad in the least, but enjoyed the experience, having killed many times before during his Sith training.  Plus, he probably did the next unassuming rich bloke a favor.

            Before lunch, he tried several more times to engage Dew in conversation, pointing out a funny sounding name of an employee he entered, asking where the man had lunch, inquiring about his family.  Dew simply gave him short, clipped answers, and Jac felt the urge to crush his windpipe just for fun.  How could he survive this?

            Then he glanced to his right and spotted her, across the room at a larger desk.  Instead of the drab clothes of the other employees, the woman wore robes of royal blue, which complemented her soft, wavy brunette hair and golden skin nicely.  She seemed to sense him staring at her, for she looked up suddenly, her hazel eyes meeting his.  Jac felt a rush of excitement when she gave him a broad smile.  She was simply beautiful, and the scar which went from her chin down her neck did not detract from that in the least. 

            Scar.  He seemed puzzled by this for a moment.  The scar looked to be a horrible burn healed, but not too long ago.  With the medical technology available on the capital world, he wondered why she didn’t get the mix of bacta and laser treatments to make the mark all but disappear. 

            Below the neck, her robes hid what he could tell to be a curvy and strong body.  He began to feel aroused as he looked at her, and he gave her a wink.  She rolled her eyes playfully and went back to her work. 

            While the handbook he’d been given forbade office relationships, he couldn’t care less and knew he would pursue her until she was underneath him, moaning his name in pleasure.

            Fifteen minutes before his own lunch time, he saw her rise, grab her bag from a drawer, and walk out, Jac’s eyes following her ass the entire way.  When his mealtime arrived, he dashed from the building, entering the busy Imperial center streets below, his eyes quickly combing the neighboring eateries.  He found her almost instantly when he reached out in the Force, having already imprinted her into his mind.  She sat alone at an outside café table, reading a data pad and eating a bowl of soup.  Straightening his robes, he walked over confidently, sliding into the seat across from her.

            “Jac,” he said, extending his hand, which she took after setting down her data pad. 

            “Callie,” she said, her voice low, a bit husky, very arousing indeed.  “Your boss,” she finished.

            This meant nothing to Jac.  He’d pursued Dia, the Twi’lek leader of the Sith Scholars, for years, and although he didn’t succeed in bedding her, he never let power deter him.  In fact, it made him even more interested.  So he merely shrugged and picked up the menu.

            “So, what’s good here,” he asked.

            “I usually get the soup,” she said.  “Vegetable and noodle.”

            He ordered this when the waiter came, and glanced down at her data pad, seeing some sort of building plans on the screen.  He focused his vision.  The Imperial Palace?

            She saw him looking, quickly turned off the device, and rose.

            “I need to run an errand before my hour is done,” she said briskly, her low voice making his nerves light up with desire.  Yes, he would have her.

            “But I just ordered and…” but he never finished as she disappeared into the crowd. 

He stood to follow when the waiter re-entered with a tray of drinks for a neighboring table.  Jac watched as one glass rose from the tray and came toward him, dumping its contents all along the front of his robes before shattering to the ground.

            Jac stood, drenched and befuddled.  He looked around.  Could another Force user be nearby, as the trajectory of the glass had been nearly impossible in a physics sense?  Of course the waiter apologized profusely, thinking it to be his fault, and Jac received free soup and certificates for future meals.  But Jac was distracted.  Was somebody watching him?

            When he returned to work after his lunch hour, having procured new but ill-fitting robes from a nearby shop, carrying his damp ones under his arm, Callie sat at her desk again, not even looking up.  Jac sat down and went back to work, his mind slowly numbing to the monotony of the task.    

            A few blocks away, high in the upper floors of the Imperial Palace, Sheev Palpatine regarded the Coruscant skyline of the elegant Imperial Center with delight.  His, all his, after years of hard work and dedication, utilizing the very strengths of the Sith: patience, perseverance, planning.

            Ah yes, planning.  Careful planning indeed.  From his master securing and manipulating the galactic banking system to engineering his own apprentice since conception.  Palpatine…no, Darth Sidious, his true identity, played a slow and methodical game over the past several decades and won.

            He looked in the direction of the Jedi Temple, damaged and pathetic looking along the skyline, a smile spreading across his face.  Yes, yes…the Sith got their revenge after over a thousand years in the shadows.  And he kept the Temple up mainly to give him satisfaction every time he stood at a window on this side of the palace.

            A door opened behind him and several servants waited at the entry.  He nodded, signaling that they may enter, and the group began to clear off the table in the banquet room in which he stood. 

            The leaders of the galaxy’s largest banks, the second generation to the one his master gained loyalty from years ago, had just gathered for a late lunch, and the meal became a rather jovial affair, as these were sentients he’d gotten to know over dozens of years of manipulation.  They seemed slightly more relaxed around him than the military leaders and others serving him.  Still, Darth Vader seemed to take the brunt of the terror factor of the new regime, leading Sidious to still hold on to the role of kindly elder gentleman, although his disfigurement often got him irritating looks of pity and the delightful occasional fear.

            Darth Vader, out on a mission with Grand Moff Tarkin at the moment, scheduled to be back any day to work on further training in the Dark Side.  Sidious decided to take the new Sith Lord down to the labs beneath the palace to show him some of the more archaic Dark Side practices.  Still, the young man, in his duel with that dolt Obi-Wan Kenobi, retained injuries so severe, he needed to forever be housed in a machine, a cyborg of sorts, keeping him from completely immersing his body in the Dark Side, as Sidious did years before.  Alas, he would need to seek out another apprentice, but that seemed like a problem for another time, as Sidious felt quite indestructible at the moment.

            His eye suddenly felt drawn to a drab little building a few blocks away. In fact, he felt himself inexplicably pulled to the location.

            “What is that building?” he asked one of the servants, pointing into the skyline.

            “Imperial Human Resources,” said the servant, his voice shaking a little.

            Sidious just nodded.  He couldn’t explain his sudden attraction to the location, but he knew to trust the Force when it called to him.  Perhaps he’d need to stop by for a visit soon.

            But his busy schedule wouldn’t allow that for a few days.  Lunch meetings, experiments in the lab, the ridiculous, worthless Senate.  He looked down at his meal, which he hadn’t touched but for a few bites.  He simply wasn’t as hungry as he’d been in the past, his being nourished by the Dark Side.  Also, the meal hadn’t been that good, and he always ordered the wrong thing.  He’d need to consult the kitchens on his way to the depths of the palace.

            Two hours before the end of the work day, Jac couldn’t stand it anymore.  He needed a distraction, and even the frequent glances in the direction of Callie, imagining her naked, her long fingers running along his body, did not keep his mind occupied enough to pass the time quicker.

            He watched Dew across the desk, working away diligently as if he enjoyed the repetitive labor.  And maybe he did.  The thought depressed Jac, but then a soft grin met his lips.  He could have a little fun with the man.

            He waited until Dew absently reached for the next data chip and, using the Force, slid it across the table.  Dew, still regarding his screen, reached again, Jac now sliding it off the desk completely.

            “What the…” muttered Dew as he bent over to retrieve the chip, Jac taking the opportunity to slide the entire box of chips in the opposite direction, so dozens crashed to the floor.  “Damnit!” shouted Dew, jumping up.

            “Dew, quiet down,” came the voice of the floor manager who sat several desks away.  “We do not need any more angry outbursts from you.”

            Any more? thought Jac with a sense of glee.  Ohhh, this could be fun.  He’d need to ponder some more ways to get to Dew.  The triteness of this thought struck him, but he shrugged it off; he would need those little joys in life to get him through the day.

            As Dew struggled with the fallen chips, Jac snuck a glance at Callie.  She stared at him with a look of shock.  Had she seen him move the chips with the Force?  He grinned sheepishly at her, but her look became almost fearful.  What in the world?

            She turned away from him suddenly and went back to work, but Jac could tell she remained upset.  In fact, she seemed to make a point of not looking up from her work until the end of the work day.  When the time came, she moved from her desk quickly and disappeared into the crowd of fellow workers trudging towards the exit.

            A little while later, after dealing with the horrendous rush-hour traffic, Jac slunk into his apartment, his spirit broken.  If this is how a normal member of the galaxy went through life, he didn’t want a part of this.  He even lost his interest in finding a lover for the evening.

            Instead, he went to his wall vault and removed the holocron he’d saved from the Scholars’ base.  If he could figure out a way to open the artifact and access the Sith master within, perhaps he wouldn’t need Palpatine after all.

            Setting the holocron down on the caf table in his living room, he muttered ancient Sith incantations.  Nothing.  They hadn’t worked in the past either.  After trying several known spells, he groaned, leaping up and grabbing one of the lightsabers from a nearby drawer.  They originally came from the Scholars’ yacht he’d used in his escape.  He now owned five, not remembering the original owners of the other four.  He ignited the blade, a yellowish-green, and struck the holocron with all his might; he only succeeded in cutting the caf table in half.

            Jac slumped into the chair, grabbed the remote for his holoscreen, and began to watch one of those popular primetime holocomedies.  He didn’t laugh once and soon dozed off.

 

**_Author’s Note: Welcome to my new story, a companion tale to my Tatooine Trilogy.  If you are new to my Star Wars stories, I suggest reading Tatooine Hideaway, as this tale introduces the character of Jac and the Sith Scholars.  This particular story will directly link to the finale of my Obi-Wan exile stories, Tatooine Sunsets._ **

**_In the next chapter, Jac endures mind-numbing workplace training, the frustrating chain of command, and erotic teasing from the mysterious Callie._ **

**_Thank you for reading!  Comments appreciated._ **


	2. Chain of Command

**Chapter Two**

**Chain of Command**

            After a month of working in Imperial Human Resources, Jac felt he accomplished a great feat: coming to work every day in the absolute sink hole of hopes and dreams without killing all his co-workers then obliterating the building itself.  He blended in, did his work, became the worker bee needed to begin making plans for himself as a Sith on Coruscant.

            One day after work, during his second week of employment, he didn’t go home right away as he’d done the past several evenings.  Instead, he ventured over to the Jedi Temple, roped off, a couple Imperial guards walking the grounds.  Jac purchased a caf at a nearby shop and walked around the perimeter of the building.  Yes, he could feel it, the Dark Side energies seeping through the ground.  He learned at the Scholars’ station, in the library, that the Jedi built the Temple eons ago on a large concentration of Dark Side energy, and Jac felt that ancient and sublime radiation now, coupled with the new dark residual effects of the Jedi purge.

            He came around the corner to see a fallen statue of some famous Force user and spotted her, Callie, his manager.  She sat on a bench across from the Temple, staring at the broken building, caf in her hands as well.  She still wore her clothes from work, a bright fuchsia dress.  He appreciated the fact she refused to give in to the grey of the place, as he still tried to hold on to some color as Imperial Human Resources zapped his spirit day by day.

            He walked slowly toward where she sat, beginning to plot.  Ever since meeting her, he hadn’t gone on the prowl for another lover, Callie dominating his thoughts.  And for Jac to go an entire week without sex seemed nearly impossible for him, although he had pleasured himself several times to thoughts of her.  He hoped perhaps now, catching her in a new place much sexier than work (which was anywhere, to be honest), might lead back to his bed.

            But approaching her, he saw he had his work cut out for him.  She looked forlorn as she stared at the ruined statue.  Jac moved in anyways, sitting next to her on the bench.  Sadness and depression could often lead to poor decision-making, and he hoped to be her poor decision. 

            “Hello, Callie,” he said, pouring charm into his voice. 

            She looked at him, no surprise on her face.  “Hello, Jac,” she said, her buttery voice once again making him melt slightly.  Her eyes narrowed.  “Do you come here often?”

            Such a strange question, but then it struck him.  Did she think him to be a Jedi?  He knew she saw the little Force prank he played on Dew his first day, but she never mentioned it.  Perhaps she thought him a surviving Jedi, like Obi-Wan Kenobi.

            “My first time,” he answered honestly.  “You know, I’m kinda new to Coruscant, so I’ve never been to this site.  Those treacherous Jedi bastards.”

            “You really think the Jedi were treacherous?” she said, turning to look at him.

            “That’s what everyone says,” he said, shrugging and taking a sip of his caf.  “Don’t you?”

            “I suppose,” she said, barely above whisper.

            They sat in silence for a long time, and Jac zoned a bit from his goal of getting Callie naked and underneath him to feeling the Dark Side tickle his nerves, enliven his spirit, damaged from mediocrity.  This place felt so good in its state of decay.

            A transport approaching woke him from his thoughts, and both he and Callie looked up to the landing platform on the south side of the Temple.  An elegant black ship landed, the back opening to a stream of stormtroopers.  Finally, Darth Vader emerged.

            Jac gasped a little upon seeing him in person, even from this distance.  Of course he’d seen the mechanical man on the holonews, even back with the Scholars, as they’d scoffed at the title Darth and the obvious practice of the Rule of Two Palpatine employed, which always seemed a waste of the knowledge of the Sith.  Jac also saw Vader in a vision, fighting the aged Obi-Wan Kenobi on some space station called Death Star.  But visions and holoimages did not do the Sith Lord justice.  Darth Vader bled power into the air, the Dark Side wafting off him, and Jac automatically took a deep breath, as if trying to gather the energy into his lungs.  Beautiful.

            Darth Vader walked with purpose into the Temple, leaving some stormtroopers behind, standing guard.

            “I wonder who he is,” came Callie’s voice, barely above a whisper.

            Jac looked at her puzzled.  “Him?  That’s Darth Vader.  Don’t you watch the news?”

            Callie looked at him, then rolled her eyes and chuckled.  “I know!  I mean, underneath that armor, that mask.”

            Jac shrugged.  Even if Darth Vader were someone famous, Jac would have no clue.  He’d paid a man to tell him about Obi-Wan Kenobi when the name seemed quite well-known on Coruscant and in military conversation.

            “Probably just some Sith Emperor Palpatine dragged up,” Jac said nonchalantly, for he knew this was probably the case.  Any Sith worth his salt would choose a less powerful apprentice, especially one subscribing to the Rule of Two in his prime.

            “What did you say?” Callie said.

            Jac refocused on her, her hazel eyes wide, questioning. 

            “Huh?” he asked, trying to avoid answering, and doing a poor job.  Damn, he was bad at staying undercover, at least here in the capital.  Pretending to be a Max Rebo fanboy was one thing, but here in the shadow of the Empire, he needed to play smarter.  But who was Callie anyway but some middle-manager in human resources?

            “You know the Emperor is a Sith?” she asked, her voice demanding a response.  She leaned forward toward him, her face just inches from his.  “Who are you?”

            Jac laughed nervously.  Very few people made him uncomfortable in his life, but Callie both aroused and frightened him at the moment.

            “Um…just Jac.  I…well…the title Darth…and…look, here he comes,” he breathed a sigh of relief when Vader reappeared, carrying a bag.  The Sith disappeared into the transport along with his entourage, and soon the ship left, the area around the Temple returning to the gentle hum of late afternoon activity.

            “How do you know about the title Darth?” she continued. 

Stang, couldn’t she just give it up?

            “I…studied history before I came here,” he said truthfully, recalling hours spent in the Scholars’ library, pouring over the learnings of past Sith, Darth Revan, Darth Sion, others less known.

            “Where?” she demanded, and Jac felt himself irresistibly compelled to answer.

            “On a laboratory space station in the Unknown Regions,” he answered as if the words were being pulled aggressively from him.  “I apprenticed there since I was five and…and…”

            “What happened?” she hissed, her face very close to his.

            “The place blew up because…” he shook his head, regaining some composure.  “Of an accident.  But I survived.  Came here.  Using my data entry skills to help the Empire.” He ended on a light note, flashing his charming smile once again, but he felt a tremor of fear pass through him.  What had just happened?

            Callie sat back, her face falling, and she leaned her forehead into her hand briefly before rising, squaring her shoulders, and beginning to walk away, tossing her caf cup into a nearby garbage bin.

            “Wait!” he said, rising.  “Let me take you to dinner.” The goal of Callie, naked and moving against him, also naked, returned and sharpened his mind again.

            She studied him for a long time, then shrugged.  “Okay.”

            They ate at a nice restaurant nearby, Jac insisting on paying.  He had to do something with his vast wealth after all.  To his disappointment, they spoke mostly about work.

            “So, you know where I’m from,” Jac said, changing the subject from the dismal topic of the new insurance claim forms.  “How about you?”

            She shrugged.  “Coruscant.  Grew up here, but studied abroad for a while.  Came back at the end of the Clone Wars.”

            “How did you get to be a manager so quickly?”

            “Hmmm…just a bit of mind manipulation,” she said wistfully, then giggled.  “Do you have any more pranks planned for Dew?  He’s such an ass.”

            “You saw that…I knew it!” he said, wondering if she would turn him into the Empire.  Maybe she should.  Did runaway Jedi get killed on the spot or brought to one of the Sith Lords?

            “Saw what?” she said coyly. 

            Jac grinned, liking her even more.  He looked down to see the bill settled, their drinks empty.  He looked back up at her, pouring seduction into his voice.  “Come back to my place for dessert, beautiful Callie.”

            He saw a blush reach her golden cheeks, and her warm eyes looked down as she bit her lip.  He momentarily thought about employing the Force mind trick to get her to follow him, but for some reason, he wanted her to want him on her own.  This desire struck him as odd, since his typical goal was usually just sex, and while he liked pleasuring women, his own enjoyment came first and foremost.  Why did Callie change his usual strategy?

            She rose.  “It’s midweek, and I run insurance seminars tomorrow for the new Imperial Guard.  Maybe…maybe another time.  Thank you for dinner.”

            Then she left before Jac could get in another word.

            As she was gone the next day to meet with new employees, the office seemed more drab than usual, and he found himself plotting ways to prank Dew to entertain Callie.  He sent her a private message outlining several plans he had, and she immediately messaged him back with three ideas of her own.  They went back and forth throughout the day, Jac heading home that evening whistling a Max Rebo love song.

            And so it went, day in and day out, entering new employees into the system, some from all the way in the Outer Rim.  When the floor lead wasn’t watching, he’d slink over to Callie’s desk, lean against it, and flirt shamelessly with her, reveling in making her smile and sometimes burst out laughing.  She seemed to loosen up around him, and often visited him at his work station, sending shivers down his spine when she placed a hand on his arm, leaning down to whisper in his ear some gossip she heard about Angie, the well-known office slut, and the stormtrooper who did security for the building.  Or perhaps warning him when he was being evaluated for his review.

            To his surprise and absolute delight, she rearranged schedules so they could eat lunch together, and they sometimes went out and sometimes ate in the employee lunch room.  But never again did he see her after work.  She always seemed to disappear immediately at quitting time.

            Jac made further progress on his own plans as well.  He’d accessed employee records for some of those closest to the Emperor, remembering what Callie mentioned about the Imperial Guard.  With vast wealth at his disposal, he wondered if bribery could be accomplished with some of these individuals.  He saved personal information from the human resources computers to his own, and even began shadowing some of the upper level palace employees in their off time, finding out where they lived, where they shopped, who they associated with.  As a Sith, he was also not above extortion, and he began to make detailed notes on people who could potentially get him in the palace and to Palpatine.      

Now, on his one-month anniversary at Imperial Human Resources, he sat in the conference room with the other third-floor employees listening to how the new computer program will help streamline data entry for the new insurance options and blah, blah, blah…The only thing sustaining him was sitting next to Callie, her leg touching his, her delicate fingers running across her data pad as she took notes.

“And the final new procedure is when you are entering a new employee into the stormtrooper ranks, make sure to indicate their battalion number following their last name rather than putting it beside their date of birth,” Ludyard, the floor manager, droned.

Jac glanced at his watch.  Three minutes to quitting time.  Tonight he would be shadowing one of the palace cooks for a couple of hours before focusing his attentions on the holocron, still obnoxiously silent.  But if Callie lingered…

“All right everyone, see you tomorrow,” Ludyard said, and Jac looked eagerly at Callie, who had not had a chance to slip stealthily away.  “Hold up, Jac.  Over here please.”

Callie winked playfully at Jac as he slunk up to his boss. 

“Yes?” he moaned, wishing he could Force choke the moron.

“I just wanted to wish you a happy one-month anniversary at Imperial Human Resources.  Here,” he handed Jac a small data chip without a smile and turned to leave.  Glancing down, he saw a five credit gift to a nearby tapcaf.  He’d missed Callie for this?

The next day, late morning, Jac took a break from entering data to focus intently on Dew’s water bottle.  The man always brought a stainless steel water container, refilling it several times a day, preaching to Jac about the importance of staying hydrated.  Working on this prank for the past week, practicing at home, he finally felt capable of pulling this off undetected.

Focusing on the molecules in the water, he used the Force to speed them up, increasing the temperature of the water to the point of near boiling.  At the same time, he focused on keeping the cup itself room temperature.  Quite a feat.

Take a drink, he thought, massaging Dew’s mind.

Still looking at his screen, Dew grabbed his water bottle, throwing back his head for a long drink.

“Kriff!” he shouted, spewing the hot water all over his holoscreen, leaping to his feet.

“You okay?” asked Jac, his voice full of concern.  He looked over to see Callie watching, her eyebrows raised, smile beginning to form.

“Hot…hot…need cold water…now,” Dew leaped up and ran to the break room, everyone staring after him. 

Jac once again turned to Callie, but found Ludyard standing at his desk blocking the view.

“Um…yeah…listen, Jac.  About the data you’ve been entering this morning.  Please make sure to enter the battalion number of the stormtroopers after their last name,” Ludyard said.

Damn, forgot, thought Jac.  “Sorry.  I just forgot.”

“See, they changed it from after the birthdate to after the name.  We met about it yesterday…”

“Yes, I remember.  I just forgot and…”

Ludyard began to walk away.  “From now on, after the last name.”

Jac gritted his teeth.  Ludyard should be happy Jac usually left his lightsaber at home.

An hour later, Jac refilled his caf cup in the employee break room when the vice president from two floors up came in, stopping in front of Jac.  The Sith straightened immediately.

“Jac, correct?”

“Yes?” Jac asked, feeling a flutter of hopefulness.  Promotion?

“Heard you’ve been filing the new stormtroopers wrong.  Please remember that…”

Jac sighed, hating this ineffective, non-communicative chain of command.  “Yes, after their last name.”

“Yes, they changed it from the birthdate because…”

“I know!” Jac bellowed, all the items in the room shaking.  He froze, staring at the man, who looked back startled.

Jac waved his hand.  “You will forget my outburst.”

The man’s face went blank.  “I will forget your outburst.”  Then he blinked.  “Very good, Jac.  Now, I have to make an announcement.”  The man stepped from the break room, looking at the maze of desks of the third floor employees.  “Attention everyone.  We’ve received a communication from the royal palace.  Emperor Palpatine himself will be stopping by to see our work late this afternoon.  We intend to show him an efficient office that serves the Empire well.”

A twitter of excitement swept through the room, and Jac felt his heart race.  Palpatine?  Here?  Perhaps he could catch the Sith Lord’s eye without resorting to the blackmail of the palace employees.

Walking back to his desk amidst the conversations atypical to the usual quiet office, he looked over to Callie, raising an eyebrow.  She sat at her desk, her hands gripping the edge, staring intently at the metal tabletop. She seemed to be breathing heavily, and he watched as she placed her hand over her heart.

Walking over and leaning against her desk, he looked up with absolute terror in her eyes.

“The Emperor will be here,” she said, her voice a little hoarse. 

Jac shrugged, trying to seem casual when the thought of being within feet of his goal made him want to leap up and down like a little boy.  But why this reaction from her?

He watched her face change suddenly, a look of determination take over as she looked at him.

“I need to calm down.  All might be lost if I don’t,” she said, then rose, pulling him by the sleeve.  “Come with me.”

Puzzled by her words, Jac followed her to the lift and watched as she hit the button for the basement.

“I need to calm down,” she repeated, her deep voice still quivering.

As the lift doors opened, she grabbed his hand and led him to the storage room where new holoscreens were placed for future employees.  With nobody about, she gestured him inside, turned on the overhead light, and closed the door, turning to face him.

“Um…Callie…what are we…”

“Take off your clothes,” she said softly, her eyes burning into him.

“What?”

“You’ve been trying to get between my legs for weeks now, right?” she asked, Jac watching her unbutton the front of the red dress she wore.  “I want you to fuck me.  Now.”

            Jac stood, frozen in the spot, as she pulled the dress from her shoulders, the garment falling to the floor.  She stepped from the fabric, removing her shoes in the process, and stood before him, her golden skin bright against the white of the simple bra and panties she wore.  Her scar, of a bad burn, he was sure now, ran down her neck to her chest, ending just above her breasts.  He wanted to run his fingers along it, put his mouth against the roughness as he caressed her smooth stomach, her strong arms.

            Finally swallowing, he found his voice.  “Callie, I…”

            She walked to him, pulling at his tunic.  “I need to calm down, Jac.  I find you attractive.  Enough games.  Fuck me.  Now.”

            Jac pulled off his tunic, and Callie was on him, her body pressed to his, her mouth taking over his aggressively.  She hungrily kissed him, her hands running up and down the muscles of his torso, fiddling with the hem of his pants, before she reached down to cup his erection over the fabric.

            “Large, hard, just how I like it,” she cooed in his ear with her warm, low voice, and he felt himself getting excited quickly, one hand caressing a breast while the other slid beneath the top of her panties to grab her butt roughly.  She moaned into him.  “Yes, Jac.  Take me.  Soon.”

            Was this really happening, Jac wondered for a moment as he tore the bra from her, leaning down to put his face into her warm, soft, full breasts.  The dark tips of the nipples beckoned to him, and he sucked on them aggressively.  She pressed herself to him, her fingers scratching into his back.

            “Yes…yes…suck them…hard…” she encouraged him as one of his hands slid between her legs, feeling her wet already through the panties.

            He did as she told him, running his teeth along her nipples, biting her gently.  Her gasps and moans grew, and he soon found himself sliding the panties over her hips, plunging his fingers into her throbbing, wet folds.  He found her opening, and moved two of his fingers inside.  She cried out his name, Jac barely able to keep himself from releasing.

            Force, he hadn’t screwed anyone in several weeks, a very long time for him indeed, and suddenly, he had the object of his desire in his arms, wanting him aggressively.  Perfect.

            She pushed him back suddenly, and pulled down his pants and underwear in one movement, kneeling on the floor to lick the tip of his penis.  She looked up at him with his juices glistening on her lips, her smile secretive, her eyes flashing with intense desire.  He pulled her up, and she jumped up to wrap her legs around his waist.  He reached around her rear to finger her again as he walked over to the wall, her back now against it.

            “For Force sake, Jac, fuck me now.  And hard…rough,” she moaned, her hair in her face, sweat on her brow.

            Moving into her with a sudden, violent thrust, they both gasped, and her eyes met his as they both froze for a moment.  She stared at him for a long time, and he shifted around, pushing himself into her further as she moved her hips to adjust for him.

            Kriff, he was deep, and he knew he wouldn’t last long.  Still, he found himself studying her as she looked back at him, her eyes glazed in pleasure.  He began to thrust into her, Callie meeting his movements, her nails digging painfully into his shoulder.  They never broke their gaze, but he saw her face begin to transform, a flush on her cheeks, her eyes wide, her mouth open as she moaned against him, his name, over and over, the occasional “harder” intermingled.

            Finally, he gave into reckless abandon, and banged into her violently, Callie pressed against the wall, encouraging him with her cries.

            “Ah…yes…there it is…fuck…now,” she said, grinning from ear to ear.  He felt her muscles move around his member as she came, and he released with a loud grunt, his head falling to her breasts.  Best day of work ever.

            They once again froze, Jac satisfied and a little sore, Callie clinging to him.  He glanced up to regard the room, wondering if they could gather their clothing together on the floor to lie for a bit, Jac wanting to study her body more, kiss her hair, as he’d thought of many a time at her desk, the brunette locks shining under the drab fluorescent light.  Maybe after work they could head to his place and…    

            She pushed him back and disengaged from him, Jac gasping with the rush of sensitivity from his private area.  He turned to see her getting dressed.

            “I feel better.  Thank you,” she said matter-of-factly, as if they’d just shared a cup of caf in the break room rather than a delightfully satisfying sexual tryst in the human resources basement.

            “Callie, let’s stay for a…”

            But she was dressed, running her fingers through her hair as she turned toward the door, Jac still naked. 

            “Gotta get back to work.  Emperor coming today,” she said professionally and turned toward the door.  She stopped, and looked back, Jac feeling a twinge of hope that she’d stay.  “And Jac?”

            “Yes?”

            “Remember to put the battalion numbers of the new stormtroopers after their last names,” she said, then disappeared.

            Jac stared after her, wondering what just happened.

            The Imperial motorcade pulled up in front of Imperial Human Resources, and the Emperor emerged and walked toward the entrance, flanked on all sides by the red-clad, masked and mysterious Imperial Guard.

            Darth Sidious felt slightly excited to finally be making his visit to Imperial Human Resources.  His eye continually roamed to the building whenever he ventured to that side of the palace, and as an expert in the Force, he knew when the Dark Side called to him, even when he couldn’t say specifically why.  And getting away from the palace for the moment, the stuck-up, ass-kissing aristocracy and the eager but frustratingly disfigured Darth Vader, pleased Sidious greatly.

            Yes, let’s see how the little people work, he thought pleasantly.  Enough with his new apprentice for the day.  While Darth Vader proved very powerful in the Dark Side, having already accomplished crimes tainting his spirit a while before he committed himself to Sidious and the Sith, the Emperor found training a new apprentice, raised in the ways of the Jedi, while also getting the new Empire underway quite the daunting tasks. 

To handle the issues of the state, he’d begun to develop a system of governors for different regions of the galaxy, Moffs.  But the scuffle in court over the positions grew tiresome quickly, and he’d already killed a couple of obnoxious courtiers, through less obvious means of course.  He didn’t get to the position he relished in now by being sloppy.  Things seemed more settled this week, and he’d wisely placed the very effective Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin in charge of all those complications, so he had a bit more time to focus on Vader.

At Sidious’ requests, Darth Vader began removing important items from the Jedi library, holocrons and the like, while destroying other records and artifacts less useful to the Sith.  And the previous week, Sidious showed Vader the labs for the first time, the Emperor’s exciting collection of curiosities and things most would consider unnatural.  He’d taught Vader the beginnings of managing his anger in constructive ways, to destroy and manipulate others.  Vader held a lot of anger in his heart, making him a near perfect apprentice.  But the suit provided barriers, and Palpatine knew this would ultimately limit Vader’s succeeding Sidious in becoming the master in the Rule of Two.  Still, he might not need a successor, as he planned to live forever, regenerating, wrapped in the Dark Side to sustain him and his Empire.

 But now he put on his pleasant smile for the meek masses, wrapped in his royal purple robes, hood pulled up to hide some of his damaged scalp.  Most people in this sad little office building seemed in awe of him, and why shouldn’t they be?  The Sith who finally ascended the throne of the galaxy, a millennium in the making.

Entering the third floor, he felt a rush of the Dark Side hit him, and he smiled broadly.  Yes…good…this is why the building kept speaking to him.  But who could it be?

His eyes ran through the crowd as higher-ups approached him in greeting, bowing, some a little frightened, as they should be.  One manager lingered back after her introduction, a young woman in a red dress, a ghastly scar on her chin and neck.  When she glanced up at him and they locked eyes, she quickly turned away, paling a bit.  He felt something from her, a pulling in the Force, and he moved in her direction in his crowd of admirers.  A sudden wave of the Force struck him from the side, and he stopped cold.

Still greeting others, his mind sought out the source of the sensation and rested on a pale young man with dark hair and dark eyes, wearing a royal blue ensemble differing greatly from his surroundings, regarding him with intensity.  Force sensitive…yes.  Not a Jedi…hmmm. 

Sidious decided to find out the name of the young man, where he came from, before approaching, so shrugging off the feeling, he moved on, eventually visiting the upper floors.  But the man kept popping up in his mind.  Others devoted to the Dark Side working along with him might provide a place to hone skills Vader simply could not accomplish in his disabled state. But would that be working against the Rule of Two?  Did that matter anymore, as the Sith once again had the galaxy in their grasps?  

While he’d sensed those powerful in the Force many times before, those the Jedi failed to see in their arrogant blindness, he never acted on recruiting, except when he needed to for political purposes, as with Count Dooku.  But perhaps the Force, in calling out to him through this young man who seemed to breathe potential into the air, had plans.  Trust the Force, Sidious reminded himself.  You have all the time in the galaxy.

Chuckling to himself at the last thought, he returned to the motorcade outside the Imperial Human Resources building, looking forward to an evening exploring a few of the holocrons Vader retrieved from the ruined Jedi library.

  


	3. Insurance Seminar

**Chapter Three**

**Insurance Seminar**

            Jac stared in deep frustration at the holocron.  He’d spent the last hour attempting to open it, with no success.  Throwing it with a loud crash onto the table in front of the sofa, he leaned back against the couch with an angry grunt. 

            Something occurred to Jac rather suddenly, and he laughed aloud at himself for not thinking of it sooner.  His Force gift manifested itself in foresight – he could attempt to access the future, try to see himself with the holocron open.

            Jac’s thoughts darkened.  Seeing his own future eluded him most of the time.  He saw the futures of worlds, of people other than himself, but he rarely made an appearance in the leading role.  Shrugging to himself, he sighed.  He didn’t know any other way, might as well give this a try.

            Leaning forward, he focused his gaze on the holocron, studying every curve.  He closed his eyes for a long moment and opened them, a smile spreading across his lips.

            He sat at the helm of his yacht, the one he’d taken from the Scholar’s base.  Looking out the front window, he saw the blaze of blue hyperspace whisking by the ship.

            “Dad?”

            The voice of a teenaged boy startled him, and he looked over to see a young man, perhaps around fifteen, looking at him.  He resembled Jac immensely, with the black, messy hair, but his eyes were a shade lighter, skin not as pale.

            Dad?  Did he have a son?  Of course, this was possible.  Highly probable, considering all the women he’d bedded.  He looked down to see the boy holding the holocron, casually tossing it from one hand to the other.  Looking up again, he saw the young man’s eyebrow’s raised as if expecting an answer.

            “Um…yes…son?” Jac responded weakly.

            “What is Tatooine like?  Gotta be hot with two suns, right?” the boy said, returning to look out the window.

            “Ah…yes, it’s a desert world.” Ah, so Tatooine again.

            The image shifted suddenly, and he found himself standing at a glassless window in a modest house, looking at the same boy in some desert garden.  The boy sat on a bench next to a teenaged girl, pretty, with reddish-blonde hair.  The two laughed and talked, enjoying themselves.  Jac felt himself smile, and he turned to the man standing next to him.  He jolted a bit in shock; Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Ben as Jac knew him when he’d kidnapped the Jedi, looked out the window as well.  This was the older Kenobi, the man Jac saw in the vision fighting Darth Vader and mysteriously disappearing.  Kenobi looked deeply dismayed as he watched the young people’s obvious flirting.

            “Well, that would certainly be interesting,” Jac heard himself say to Kenobi.

            The man shot him a glare so deep, Jac wondered if Kenobi ever dappled in the Dark Side.

            “Over my dead body,” Kenobi hissed.

            Jac laughed.  “According to my visions, there is no body.”

            He now found himself sitting at a table across from the Jedi, the holocron between them.

            “Well old man, you ready?” Jac heard himself say lightly, regarding Kenobi with a grin.  His heart beat fast with a sense of determination.

            “Yes,” said Kenobi, and Jac watched as he and the Jedi both reached for the holocron at the same time.

            The moment their fingers touched the cube, a bright red light flowed from the holocron.

            Jac awoke with a start, lying on the floor in his apartment, the holocron clutched in his right hand.  He sat up slowly, feeling woozy from his efforts with the visions.

            He would open it, yes indeed.  But would he need to wait years?  Did he need to seek out Kenobi again?

            But the man was much older?  Would Jac open it before then?  He’d felt so certain, so sure of himself.

            And a son?  Interesting.  Who was the girl the boy flirted with in that desert garden? Kenobi’s?

            Lying back down, drained and exhausted, he felt a bit of pride in conjuring up visions of his own future, even though they now left more questions than answers.  Dozing off right there in the living room from his exertion, he awoke the next morning quite late, barely making it to his desk, and view of Dew, in time.

            Miles across town, in the Imperial Palace, Darth Sidious sat up in his large, lush bed.  He’d been lying in the dark, attempting but failing to fall asleep.  He slept so little these days, but he often found sleep brought dreams, visions, ideas, thus making it worth his time, on occasion.  But he felt a growing disquiet as he lay for the past hour.

            His life was in danger, he concluded.  And frustratingly, he could not see how.

            Rising from the bed, he moved across the room after donning his robe, opening the door slowly.  One of the two red-clad Imperial Guards turned to him. 

            “My Lord?” came the muffled voice.

            “Just need a walk.  Alone,” he said quietly, and he moved down the hallway.  He sensed dismay from the guard, concern for him, but he motioned again for the man to stay put.  The Emperor needed to wander alone.

            He found himself drawn to the window, looking out at the nighttime cityscape, again seeking out the Imperial Human Resources building.  Did the concerning feeling involve the young Force user who worked there, Jac?  After returning from his visit, Sidious made quick work of looking the man up and found little background, a rather boring, standard existence, obviously false and created for some purpose.  But other more pressing matters came into play, and he’d put off his investigation for the past week. 

            Moving again down the long, wide central hallway, he paused outside the quarters of Darth Vader, his apprentice currently in residence.  He heard the hum of machinery, wondering how Vader felt existing in such a state, his bedroom filled with life-sustaining devices rather than the comforts of a bed, blankets, a luxurious chair in which to sit and read ancient Sith legends.  The Emperor shrugged.  Better Vader than me, he thought.  While he didn’t mind roughing it, had many a time particularly during his own apprenticeship, Sidious enjoyed luxury, had most of his life.

            Placing his palm on Vader’s door, he reached out with the Force.  No, the threat was not from Vader.  The young Sith needed Sidious still, would be foolish to dispose of him, or attempt to, after such a short time and little training in the ways of the Dark Side.  Darth Vader may appear a terrifying front, but he still had a lot to learn.

            No, he felt impending danger to himself but could not quite place the source.  Damning the sometimes vague nature of the Force, Palpatine returned to his room and to bed.  He would just need to wait and see, keep his senses on alert.  Patience, he told himself, as he’d done so often over the long years of his rise to power.  Patience, for the Force would reveal the truth soon enough.

            Patience alluded Jac all morning and into the early afternoon, as the servers for their computer systems continued to go offline throughout the day, forcing him to talk with Dew.  The obnoxious man explained to Jac about the reconstruction project of the family farm on his home world.  He specialized in the growing of some root vegetable, and his younger brother currently ran things, but Dew visited often as full owner and heir to the family fortune, which he secretly bragged to Jac about with a smile.  Jac didn’t mention his own wealth could buy Dew’s home world without putting much of a dent in the Sith’s fortune, and Jac fantasized about buying out Dew’s root farm and blasting the entire thing to oblivion with an arsenal of weapons.

            “So what are you doing working at human resources?” asked Jac.

            Dew shrugged.  “I moved to Coruscant for university and enjoy city life.  My world is stiflingly rural.  I thought about moving back after the fall of the Republic, but I admire the tenants of the Empire.”

            Then Dew began talking specifically about the galactic vegetable market, and Jac smiled and nodded, his mind drifting over to Callie, who sat at her desk on her data pad. After their meeting in the basement, she’d acted like nothing happened, like they just hadn’t had rough, mind-blowing sex.  They’d eaten lunch, flirted like before.  But Jac felt perplexed, along with a deep sense of longing.  He’d been inside her, deep, heard her moan against him, felt her naked body wrapped around him.  And he wanted more, craved her.  But she seemed to have moved on completely, never even mentioning, or even indicating knowledge of, the event. 

            Ludyard, the floor manager, approached her desk to talk for a moment, then he turned and approached Jac.

            “Um…yeah, Jac.  Callie is running a large insurance seminar for some stormtroopers who just returned from the Outer Rim and need to know their new options.  Since it’s a large assembly, she requested you accompany her to help with the sign-ups,” Ludyard explained.

            Jac smiled.  Requested him, huh?  He looked over to see her standing in her robes, with her bag, ready to go.  She smiled softly at him.  Gathering his things quickly, accidently putting his outer robes on inside out, eliciting teasing from Dew, he soon found himself in the turbolift.

            “So you requested me, my dear?” he said smoothly.

            Callie gave him a wry look.  “Yes, you know all the options backwards and forwards and…”

            “So how would you like it this time, boss?  Backwards or forwards?” Jac said, raising his eyebrows and sending her his best coy smile.

            Callie laughed.  “Maybe later.”

            Maybe later?  Hmmm…he’d turn that maybe into a definitely by the end of the seminar.

            They walked the few blocks to the central military facility, and the duo were ushered into a large forum, the audience filled with at least a thousand men.  Outside of their stormtrooper armor, the Imperial Army looked like just a bunch of average guys.

            Jac watched as Callie went through the presentation of the new insurance options, pointing out the benefits of the different choices on the large holoscreen.  Despite the boring content, Jac noticed the men seemed rapt at attention.  Perhaps the officers pacing the perimeter of the assembly had something to do with this.

            At the end of the presentation, Callie turned off the holoprojector.

            “My colleague Jac and myself will be at the tables in the hall to answer any personal questions or to assist you in registering,” Callie said.  “Are there any general questions at this time?”

            Callie answered a few questions before one young man toward the back hesitantly raised his hand. 

            “Um…yes…well, would this be a good place to address other workplace concerns?” he asked.

            Callie shrugged.  “I suppose.  We are from human resources.”

            “Okay…well…” the man hesitated.  “It’s about our uniforms.  About our armor.”

            Jac looked over to see Callie with a puzzled expression.  “Yes?” she said.

            “Well, I know I’m not the only one, but the armor we wear causes a certain amount of…chafing,” he continued.

            “Chafing?” Callie said, still looking bewildered, but Jac could see where this was headed. 

            “Yes…in the crotch.  Well, the balls specifically,” the man said, getting a bit bolder, but still red in the face.

            Jac almost let out a loud laugh seeing Callie stare open-mouthed at the man.  But soon a chorus of agreement rose up.

            “Yes!” cried one man from the front row.  “Those of us on the desert worlds like Tatooine and Jakku…man, our balls are on fire.”

            “I’m…I’m going to let my male counterpart handle this line of requests,” Callie said, gesturing for Jac as she sat down.

            Jac took notes on his data pad about numerous complaints about armor before another man toward the center spoke up about a different matter.

            “We have blaster practice all the time, and myself, nor anyone in my company, can hit the target,” he shouted, other men calling out in agreement.  “We either have faulty weapons or poor instructors.”

            “Enough!” cried one of the officers, now taking the stage.  “Seminar over.  Now go sign up for your new benefits then head back to your dorms.”

            Jac spent the next two hours signing up stormtroopers, occasionally stealing a glance at Callie at her own table across the room.  When the room cleared, he walked over to help her pack up her things.

            “When that guy mentioned his chafed balls,” Jac began, laughing.  “You should have seen your face.”

            Callie smiled back, and they left the military complex.

            “Must be almost dinner.  I’m famished.  And not even the thought of stormtrooper genitalia can deter that feeling,” Callie said matter-of-factly in her sultry voice, making Jac chuckle.

            Then, the realization of a golden opportunity hit him.

            “Let me cook for you,” Jac said, knowing he had a pantry stocked with goods.  “I’m quite good.”

            “Learned on that space station of yours in the Unknown Regions?” she teased, but she seemed to be letting him take the lead…back to his place.  Good.

            “As a matter of fact, yes.  One of the researchers was a gifted chef,” Jac said truthfully, for a moment recalling the ill-fated Duros Sith Lail. 

            “All right Jac, cook for me,” Callie giggled.

            A while later, Jac’s apartment glowed with the warmth of fire on the hearth and the aroma of food in the kitchen.  As he worked, he watched Callie walk around, regarding his lush apartment.

            “You have money,” she said, returning to sit on a stool by the counter and taking a sip of Alderaanian wine.

            Jac shrugged.

            “Why are you working at human resources?” she pressed.

            Jac felt the urge to speak, tell her everything, but he bit his tongue, keeping quiet.  He shrugged again.

            After dinner and cleaning up, Jac sat with Callie on the sofa, watching the fire.  The space of about a foot separated them as they talked of work and the recent holonews and the ridiculous stormtroopers.  Jac enjoyed talking with Callie, found her wry, mocking sense of humor perfect for his mentality of sentients as a whole.  She would have done nicely as a member of the Sith Scholars.

            A lull in the conversation made the sound of the crackling fire dominate the space, and Callie scooted over, put her feet up on the sofa, and leaned her head against Jac’s shoulder.

            “This is nice,” she said softly.

            “Yes,” he said quietly, for it was nice.  Very nice.  He enjoyed just sitting with her, being in her company.  And while he’d definitely be banging her in a bit, just sitting with her felt perfectly fine for the moment, definitely not his usual bang ‘em and go mentality.

            He awoke a little while later to her kissing him, surprised he fell asleep.  Her kisses began as soft, but soon became needy, and he tore at her clothes.  Soon, things became a frantic blur of lovemaking, the first time on the floor in front of the fire, both naked and moaning together.  As Jac rolled on top of her and moved smoothly inside her wetness, he felt sure he could fuck just Callie for the rest of his life and be quite content.  The thought startled him, as he rarely craved the same woman more than once.  But all thoughts left him as he began to climax, filling her as he groaned into her breasts.

            “Stay hard for me,” she demanded, flipping him over so she straddled him, his manhood still inside her. 

He used the Force to get himself going again, a technique he loved to employ with an eager lover who always left exhausted and impressed by his longevity.  Watching her sit up with him still inside her, the erect nipples hard and tantalizing under his touch, he reveled in watching her orgasm, her face flush, mouth hanging open in cries of pleasure, head thrown back.  She collapsed on top of him.

“Come to my bed,” he whispered.  “The floor is hard.”

“As are you.  Still,” she said, removing him from her and getting up.  “Impressive.”

He took her hand and led her to his bedroom, the large bed with silky sheets and warm blankets.  To his utter shock, she slid onto the bed, lying on her stomach, turning to look back at him with a devilish expression. 

“You promised me backwards and forwards,” she said.  “I enjoy both.”

Jac wasted no time joining her on the bed and mounting her from behind, driving into her vagina once again, one hand reaching around to fondle her breasts while the other slid from her hip to press into her folds, applying even more pressure to her clitoris.  They came undone at the same time, Jac releasing inside her again as her muscles tightened and pulled around him.  Force, he could fuck this woman all the time.

Pulling out and falling beside her, he brought the blankets over them.  He felt satisfied and sleepy.  Callie draped herself across him, sighing.

“You’ve been with a lot of women,” she said in her deliciously buttery voice.  “How many?”

Jac bit his lip.  This could be a dangerous conversation.  He ran through his options quickly, knowing she enjoyed his humor.  

“What number would you prefer?” he asked, knowing full well he’d lost count years ago.

Callie laughed brightly, holding him tighter.

“And you?” he asked.

“One,” she said, the laughter stopping completely.  “But he’s long gone now. Dead.”

“I’m sorry,” said Jac, his sentiment hollow.  He wasn’t sorry in the least.

“I’m not,” she said darkly.

The room fell into silence, and he soon heard her breathing steadily as she fell asleep.  Jac slipped away as well, dreaming of Callie walking beside him through the city, Callie in his kitchen helping him make dinner, Callie watching the holonews on his sofa next to him, cradling a cup of caf in her hands.

The sound of crying woke him hours later.  Callie sat on the edge of his bed, still naked, hunched over, sobbing into her hands, her whole body shaking.  Jac watched and listened for a moment before he felt a bit uncomfortable, like he was spying on a private moment.

“I’m not that bad, am I?” he asked.

Callie jumped a bit at the sound of his voice, then chuckled despite her tears, returning to lie beside him.

“No,” she whispered.  “You are actually quite good…for a data processor.”

“I’m not experiencing any chafing.  Want another go?”

Callie giggled and nuzzled into him.  “Can you…can you just hold me for a bit?” she said, her voice still thick with tears.

Jac pulled her to him, loving the feeling of her in his arms, all the while wondering why she’d been crying.

While he felt his destiny lie in gaining more power in the Dark Side, finding a powerful master to teach him, nothing in the Sith rule book mentioned avoiding attachment, like those foolish Jedi.  And Jac was definitely becoming attached to Callie.  As long as she didn’t get in the way of his pursuits, he saw no reason to abandon this romance.

 

 


	4. Sick Leave

**Chapter Four**

**Sick Leave**

            Following the insurance seminar and Callie’s initial stay at his flat, Jac saw much more of her in the coming weeks.  She spent the night often, the evenings filled with talk, food, drink, lovemaking, and laughter.  They planned pranks on Dew and others in the office, ones that didn’t use the Force, as he never breached that topic with her, although he knew she knew. They went to concerts, the opera, the theatre, Jac always paying, Callie not refusing. 

            During this time, he did not pursue any other lovers, and pondered this one morning when he woke up before her, watching her sleep soundly next to him.  Was he, Jac, the player of the Sith Scholars, settling down?  He smiled and shook his head.  Perhaps.  Sith entered into long-term relationships often.  In the olden days, when Sith were legion, developing such relationships in order to create dynasties of Dark Side users just made logical sense.  On the Scholars’ base, several Sith couples existed, most in some form of harmony, although one relationship disintegrated to the amusement of the rest of the base and the eventual murder of one of the parties. 

            Jac could see himself with Callie, settling down with her.  He no longer desired other women, and he knew this might eventually happen, getting older and all.  Also, Callie satisfied his every sexual need.  She always seemed ready for him, even initiating encounters more often than himself.  She liked different positions, and one night gave him the best blow job he ever had, leaving him a quivering mess.  He loved pleasing her, noticing she seemed to enjoy unconventional locations.  He’d whisked her into the light tech room at the opera house after a performance one evening and fucked her right there on the lighting controls.  During work hours, he’d use the Force to arouse her, without her knowledge, watching her flush and shift around from across the room.  She’d walk over causally to him, then lead him to their spot in the basement for a quickie. 

            He found her intriguing in other ways.  She remained a mystery, always talking about the present, never the past.  He’d occasionally talk about the base, but he didn’t want to let slip anything that might turn her away, at least until he unraveled her a bit better.  But he loved her quickness, her harshness towards the world and others, her wry sense of humor.  Yes, he could definitely keep her around for a while.

            Then, after six weeks, without any notice to Jac, Callie stopped coming to work, neglected to contact him, and essentially disappeared.

            On the third day her desk remained empty, Jac began to worry.  He hadn’t contacted her immediately, didn’t want to seem overly needy.  But now he felt nothing but concern.  He stood and walked over to the floor lead Ludyard.

            “Hey boss,” Jac said.  “Um…I was wondering about Callie.  We were working on a new presentation together and…”

            “Took sick leave for the rest of the week,” Ludyard shrugged.  “Perhaps you can develop the presentation with Dew.  You two seem to work well together and…”

            “Yeah, gotta go.  Need to make a call,” Jac said, moving away quickly.

            Sick leave?  Maybe he should go by her place, check on her.  He quickly found her home information on the computer and downloaded it to his private data pad.  Yes, he’d stop by after work.  Maybe with that soup she likes.

            But when the work day ended, he thought better of this.  No, he couldn’t just show up.  In fact, he’d never been over to her place.  They’d never established they were in a serious relationship.  Instead, he spent the evening shadowing another palace employee, a butler he’d began gathering information on before Callie became his focus.  He needed to get back on track with Palpatine.

            The next work week began and still no Callie.  Jac’s days became pure drudgery, and Dew continued to whittle away at Jac’s patience, difficult to do to a Sith, the most patient of Force users.

            Finally, one afternoon, Jac had enough. 

            “Jac,” Dew hissed at him.  “Keep your things on your desk.”

            Jac looked up from his holoscreen to see one centimeter of his data pad on Dew’s desk.  He looked up at the bulgy-eyed man.

            “Seriously?” Jac asked.

            “Have some respect for personal property,” Dew said, swiping his hand so the data pad flew off the desk onto the floor.

            Instantly, and without thought, Jac reached up his hand and pinched Dew’s windpipe with the Force.  The man gagged and choked loudly, and Jac came to his senses, releasing him.  Dew looked around panicked, not connecting his sudden lack of air to Jac. 

            Then, a new idea sprang into Jac’s head.  He leaned toward Dew.

            “You will quit this job,” he said.

            Dew looked at him, and Jac watched his eyes glaze a bit.

            “I will quit this job,” Dew said.

            “You will quit this job now,” Jac pressed.

            “I will quit now,” Dew said, then rose and walked over to Ludyard’s desk.  “I am quitting.”  And with that, Dew left, the entire office silently watching him go with dropped jaws.

            Jac smiled broadly, then looked toward Callie’s desk for her usual shinning, approving smile.  But the chair sat empty.  Jac nodded to himself, resolving to go to her place after work.  He began to plan his conversation with her when Ludyard approached his desk.

            “Um…hi Jac.  Listen, you just received a summons to the palace.  To the Emperor’s office,” the man mumbled.

            Jac rose quickly.  “Palpatine?” he said, shocked.

            “Yes.  You need to head over immediately and report to the secretary at the west entrance.  I’m not sure what…”

            But Jac didn’t hear.  He bolted from the room, dashing down the stairs to avoid waiting for the lift.  He covered the few blocks at a fast pace, then stood, outside the palace doors, straightening his robes and catching his breath.

            Although Palpatine’s visit to human resources occurred weeks ago, Jac felt he’d made a connection, however brief, with the Sith Lord.  Maybe his spying, his meddling would be for naught.  Maybe Palpatine recognized the dark potential in Jac right there in the office.

            He checked in with a somber-looking middle-aged human female who led him to the turbolift, scanning a key card after he entered and pushing an unmarked button.

            “When the doors open,” she said in a voice lacking any sort of emotion. “Turn to the left and enter the waiting area.  You will be called in to the Emperor’s office shortly.”

            Jac nodded, and as the doors began to close on the lift, he saw several officers enter the palace, approaching the woman’s desk.

            Following instructions, Jac soon found himself in a lushly furnished waiting area, a huge, elegantly carved double wooden door closed to him, flanked on both sides by red-clad Imperial Guards, standing silently and still.  Jac smiled and lifted up his hand to wave at them, but received no response.  He laughed and took a seat, taking in the room around him. 

            The bronze bust of a human sat on a pedestal in the corner, and Jac immediately recognized Exar Kun.  Excellent, the Emperor obviously had good taste.  He wondered how many visitors would recognize the ancient Lord of the Sith.  Other pieces of art, a tapestry, a moss painting, an abstract statue in another corner, exhibited threads of the Dark Side, and Jac felt the Force stronger here than any other place on Coruscant, save for the Jedi Temple.

            He sat patiently for quite some time before he focused his attention on the two Imperial Guards.  The one on the right of the door drew his eye the most, and he felt a growing familiarity with the Guard.  He couldn’t recall knowing anyone who worked in this very exclusive branch of the Empire, so he could not explain the feeling.  Perhaps a trooper he signed up for insurance, now promoted?  No, this feeling felt deeper than a casual meeting.

            Jac realized he was staring at the Guard and looked away, studying a broken piece of hieroglyphic stone mounted on the wall next to the door.  The ancient words of the Sith shined brightly, and Jac began to translate when the double doors swung open.

            Out came the Emperor, surrounded by dignitaries Jac only saw on the holonews.

            “This Free Ryloth Movement needs to be contained soon, my lord,” said one of the men.

            “Yes, gather the lead officers, get all the Moffs on holoconference in the main gallery,” the Emperor said. 

            “Yes, but what about the Senate and…” came another voice, but Emperor Palpatine halted, raised a hand for silence, then turned directly toward Jac, who now stood.

            “Ah…Jac.  When I summoned you, I thought we would have time to talk.  Unfortunately, an emergency recently arose.  May I call on you another time?” the Emperor said, his voice smooth and gripping.  “I very much wish to speak with you.”

            “Yes,” said Jac.  “Any time.” He paused, then took a step toward the Sith Lord.  “But before you go, I must say I appreciate your taste in art.  The bust of Exar Kun in particular.”

            The smile of the Emperor’s face widened, and he chuckled.  “Yes, a prize piece indeed.  I look forward to speaking with you.”

            And with that, the Emperor left, the two Imperial Guards now standing on either side of Jac, leading him toward the turbolift.

            As he turned around, he saw one of the Guards went off in the direction of the Emperor and his entourage while the other stood directly in front of Jac.  The lift doors closed, Jac puzzled by the moment.

            He went out onto the street, giddy.  He’d made contact, established himself as someone knowledgeable about the Dark Side.  Progress.

            Feeling a sense of elation, he resolved to go to Callie’s then and there, no desire to return to human resources for his final hour of work. Pulling out his data pad, he brought up her address.  Having not looked too carefully at the location of her home before, he studied it now, puzzled.  While he had a penthouse on the surface, complete with a balcony, extra bedrooms, refreshers, and an enormous kitchen, Callie’s home address led to the lower levels of Coruscant, where the classes of sentients got poorer and poorer as one went down.  In fact, rumors abounded that at the lowest level, feral humans could be found.

            Still, vertically thinking, Callie’s apartment did not seem too far away, and he found a taxi by the palace to take him below.

            About thirty minutes later, Jac entered the lobby of her building, his nose scrunching up in disgust.  Four levels down from his, the air around him hung stale and stank of bad plumbing and unwashed people.  No doorman greeted him, like his own building, and he quickly decided on the stairs rather than the lift, as a reeking dark stain covered most of the carpet.  Although the building was vast, featuring two thousand units, Callie’s could be found on the fifth floor.

            Leaving the stairwell, he entered a small hallway with only four doors, Callie’s at the very end.  As he passed the others, he saw signs of people trying to make the best of their station in life, a brightly colored welcome mat outside one door, a pot of indoor flowers by another.  Callie’s, however, remained unadorned.

            He knocked and waited, then knocked again, pressing his ear to the door.

            “You looking for Callie?” came a small voice from behind, and he turned to see an elderly human woman emerge from the flower pot door.

            “Yes.  I heard she was ill and…”

            The woman looked confused.  “She seemed fine when she left this morning.  Always on the go, that Callie.  Don’t see her for days at a time.  Not much for conversation.”  The woman stepped forward.  “Who are you?”

            Jac sighed in exasperation.  “You will go back into your apartment and leave me alone,” he said, pouring Force persuasion into his voice.

            “What?” the woman asked.  “I didn’t quite understand you.”

            Jac shook his head.  The woman was either too intelligent for mind tricks or too hard of hearing to comprehend in the first place.  Using the Force, he spun her around and shoved her back into her apartment, slamming the door behind her

            Raising his hand before the lock on Callie’s door, he made quick work of breaking in, stepping inside her apartment and closing the door swiftly behind him so the floor busybody wouldn’t see.

            The overhead light came on automatically, and Jac looked around the room, not believing this to be Callie’s home.  The apartment, one room about the size of his smallest bedroom, had no window, the only furniture a mattress on the floor, covered by a threadbare blanket, and a wooden chair.  The bare walls showed stains and chips.  A portable garment rack stood against the wall, Jac noticing all the outfits he’d seen her in hanging up neatly.  Walking over to the small kitchen, he saw it meagerly stocked, and the ‘fresher tiny, the toilet in the same space as the shower.  Despite the stifling space, the room was neat and tidy, but not somewhere to lounge and relax, like his own home.

            Walking over to the garment rack, he ran his hands along the clothing, feeling a little sad, having not seen Callie for a week.  Why did she live like this?  Certainly she made enough in her work at human resources to afford better.  She seemed sophisticated and intelligent, certainly not of the class of the lower levels of Coruscant.

            “What are you doing here?” came Callie’s deep voice, and Jac spun around toward the door, surprised.

            “Callie!” he cried, running to her, about to grab her into an embrace.  The coldness of her gaze stopped him.

            “I did not invite you here,” she hissed.

            “You haven’t been at work and…”

            “Leave!” she shouted, her voice harsh.

            “Callie, why do you live like this?  In this disgusting building, in this…”

            “Leave!” she screamed, her face contorted in rage, and he felt the darkness of the Force enter the room suddenly but not from him. 

            He stood, staring at her in shock.  The anger left her face slowly, and he watched her crumble to the floor, sobbing into the sleeves of the simple brown tunic she wore.  Jac approached cautiously, about to kneel down beside her, when her head snapped back up, her eyes almost yellow, tinged with red, glaring in hate.

            “Go away, Jac!” she yelled, the door flying open, Jac feeling himself pushed against his will toward the exit.  “Don’t come here again!”

            The door slammed, leaving him in the ill-smelling hallway once again.  His whole body shook.  What just happened?

            Slowly moving from the building, he caught another cab to the upper level, his level, the level of the wealthy, the powerful, but he did not go into his apartment.  He walked along the sidewalks for the next few hours as night fell, his mind a mix of elation over his success with Palpatine and concern over the encounter with Callie.

            Callie could definitely access the Force, touch the Dark Side.  He saw it shining in her eyes.  Had she trained as a Sith as well?  Were there other cults out there in the galaxy?  How had he not known this before?

            Lost in thought, Jac suddenly realized he’d made his way to the Jedi Temple, attracted by the ancient Dark Side residue radiating from the depths of Coruscant.  He walked along the fence around the Temple, seeing the occasional trooper lurking in the dark, the area only lit from the surrounding buildings in the distance. 

            He walked close to the chain-link fence and noticed it move slightly.  Looking ahead, he saw a diminutive humanoid scaling the fence, dropping to the ground in stealth on the Temple side, and darting silently into a lower entrance.  Jac raised his eyebrows, amused.  The creature, dressed in coveralls over its orange-toned skin, did not garner any notice from a stormtrooper mere yards away.  Looking up at the Temple, Jac wondered how much the place had been pillaged, not just by the Empire.  Maybe he should venture inside one of these days, try to find Kenobi’s room perhaps.  He’d gotten to know the man over the couple of days the Scholars held the Jedi captive on their yacht and then station. What would Kenobi have one the walls in his room?  Would his clothing still be there, mementoes on shelves, treasured memories of…

            Jac gripped the fence suddenly, falling to his knees, his sight tunneling.  A vision hit him strong and clear, clearer than any other foresight he ever encountered.  Palpatine sat in his favorite box at the opera house, surrounded by his usual cronies.  Jac’s view seemed to be from one of the dignitaries, sitting to the left of the Emperor.  Jac looked down at the show to see a full orchestra, no singers yet onstage.  He strained, but the vision seemed silent, like so many in the past.  He rarely received sound in his visions of the future.  Looking back up, he saw Palpatine nodding to a few of his entourage as they got up and left, leaving only a few present.

            Then he was walking in the foyer on the box level, no one else in sight.  Now he could hear the sound of singing from the auditorium in the next room.  He recognized the song, but could not identify the opera.  Following a red-clad Imperial Guard, he saw the Guard turn toward what he somehow knew to be the entrance to the royal box.  Jac watched as the Guard pulled a blaster from his hip with one hand and ignited a green lightsaber with the other.

            Jac awoke, lying on his back by the fence near the Jedi Temple.  The small orange creature he saw break into the Temple earlier crouched beside him, shaking him awake.

            “You okay?” she asked, her voice concerned, her eyes questioning him from behind corrective goggles.  “I came around the corner, and you are lying here convulsing.  Can I help you?”

            Jac sat up, recovering quickly.  He’d been working on coming out of his visions swiftly, as he sometimes received them at the wrong time or place.  He looked up at the creature, seeing her but not registering.  He needed to get out of here, process what he saw.  Palpatine could be in danger!

            The creature continued, “I can get you to a safe place, friend.”

            Jac pushed her aside as he stood.  “I’m not your friend, you little thief.  Out of my way.”

            He stalked toward home.  He needed to figure this out, stop Palpatine from being attacked.  Jac needed Palpatine, needed to continue his training.

            Single minded as he returned home, Jac connected to the holonet to find out the next opera.  He would not allow Palpatine to be destroyed before he got what he needed from the Sith Lord.

 


	5. Promotion

**Chapter Five**

**Promotion**

            Jac walked casually into the opera house, dressed in his finest robes of emerald green, which complemented his pale skin and black hair nicely. The Emperor definitely attended this evening, as the place crawled with stormtroopers, and the theatre set up a security gate for all patrons, not an occurrence every show. 

            Quickly using the Force mind trick to by-pass security, as his lightsaber clung to his belt beside a blaster under his clothing, Jac made his way for the boxes.  While his usual seats when he attended with Callie were fourth row center, he exchanged for box seats this evening, allowing him access to the same floor as the Emperor.  Still, the foyer near Palpatine’s section would be roped off, as Jac knew from his vision, but a quick perusal of the opera house plans, available on the holonet due to the building’s historical status, offered several options for one with talents in the Force.

            Jac arrived to his box early, the only one present as he’d purchased both rows.  Looking up, he saw a small door, a crawlspace, leading into a conduit system for the heating and cooling.  Sitting for a moment in one of the plush seats, Jac looked across at the other boxes, seeing the Emperor’s at center, several over from him.  Many of the sentients Jac saw with him the week earlier at the palace sat waiting, talking with one another, and rose when the Emperor himself entered.  The lights flashed, indicating the start of the show, and as they dimmed completely, Jac made his move, working his way into the ceiling, closing the crawl space door behind him.

            Moving along the space between the box section and the upper balcony, Jac heard the show begin.  Stealthily working his way to the area just above the Emperor’s foyer, he lie down, watching through a small divide in the ceiling panels.  He waited.

            The past week he spent getting ready for this evening, knowing, after checking the performance calendar, that this would be the show, without a doubt.  The Force guided him, and he trusted the Force, which never led him astray.  He neglected work, did not even call in sick.  He knew he would either get out of this situation on top, noticed by the Emperor and hopefully under his tutelage, or dead. 

            His vision showed the entourage leaving the box, and soon he saw several individuals walking below him, talking casually, two heading in the direction of the refresher, one ducking toward an exterior balcony door, pulling out her comm.  Holding his breath, he waited.  Then, a flash of red went below him.  Show time!

            Silently, Jac moved aside the panel and jumped easily to the floor below.  He suddenly realized the vision from the foyer was from his own perspective, as he padded along behind the Imperial Guard.  What he didn’t experience before though was the feeling of familiarity hit him again.  Could this be the very same guard from outside the Emperor’s offices, the one Jac could swear he knew from somewhere?

            Hiding his presence in the Force, he moved at a quicker pace.  The Guard approached the entrance to the box, pulling out a blaster with one hand and igniting a green lightsaber with the other.

            Jac made his move.  “Freeze, traitor,” he hissed, igniting his own red blade. 

Jac saw the Guard jump slightly, apparently startled by Jac’s sudden appearance.  The Guard turned around and fired the blaster at Jac’s head, the Sith deflecting the bolt easily.  The music from the performance filled the hall as the song met its crescendo, and the Guard dropped the blaster and came at Jac quickly with the lightsaber.  Exchanging blows, Jac felt himself being driven back against the outer wall of the hallway, the Guard a fierce opponent, obviously very skilled.  Combat remained Jac’s weakness, and he damned himself for not practicing, focusing so much of his attention on the holocron and Palpatine and Callie. 

His back now against the wall, the Guard’s blow came dangerously close to removing one of Jac’s hands, and he dove to the side, dropping his lightsaber.  In a swift movement, hoping the Guard would not see it coming, he pulled out his blaster and fired, aiming for the Guard’s hand.  The Guard screamed as the lightsaber fell to the ground, and Jac sent a wave of energy, knocking the man flat on his back.  Taking up his blade quickly, Jac jumped the Guard, straddling him mid torso, igniting his blade while removing the red helmet, his intent to run the Guard’s face through with the red beam.

Casting the helmet off to the side, Jac gasped.  Familiar hazel eyes glared back at him in rage, soft brunette hair he’d run his fingers through many times stuck matted to her forehead with sweat.  Her usual golden skin flushed, the scar on her chin and neck a deeper shade of red, the look of absolute hate Callie gave him took his breath away.

“Do it!” she screamed at him.  “Kill me!  Protect your Emperor.  Kill me, Jac!”

The tip of his blade hovering just above her forehead, Jac looked up to see another Imperial Guard rushing down the hall toward them, probably from the entrance to the Emperor’s foyer.  The Guard ignited an electrified staff.

Callie sobbed underneath him.  “Kill me.  Please, Jac.”

Leaning over quickly, Jac picked up Callie’s discarded blaster and fired at the man, hitting him in the chest.  Moving off Callie, he went over to the dazed guard and made quick work of beheading him.  He turned back to Callie, who now stood.

“Go!” he shouted, pointing to an emergency exit at the other end of the foyer. 

“Jac,” she said, hesitating.

Voices could be heard now from the balcony, although the opera continued, too loud to be disrupted by the scuffle in the box level hallway.  Jac looked down to see blood from the Guard he just killed now soiling his elegant opera shoes and the bottom of his robes. 

“Run, Callie,” he said, and she moved quickly, scooping up her mask, lightsaber, and blaster before running through the exit.

At that moment, Emperor Palpatine appeared, alone, standing before Jac.  The young Sith stood tall and confident, and the Sith Lord approached.

“I had a vision, of an Imperial Guard coming to kill you.  I have disposed of him for you, my Lord,” Jac said and kneeled as Palpatine came forward.

“A vision?” Palpatine said, and Jac looked up to see the man smiling down at him, his golden eyes shining.

“Yes.  The Force speaks to me through visions.  All have come true,” Jac said, rising to his feet.

The Emperor nodded slowly, looking to be considering something.  Jac also noticed he did not seem surprised to find him there, a dead Imperial Guard bleeding all over the nice carpet.

“Come with me,” the Emperor said, moving toward the exit, new Guards almost materializing beside him. 

Taking a deep breath in order to remain calm, Jac followed. 

Sitting in the back of his lush personal transport, Sidious regarded the young man across from him.  Jac, obviously talented in the Dark Side, trained in Sith lore.  In the silence that passed between them, he used the Force to scan the man, Jac knowing what he was doing and allowing it, only seeming to shut down a small part of his thoughts.  No matter, Sidious thought.  Everyone needed to have their secrets, particularly a Sith.  This did not bother Sidious in the least.  In fact, he somewhat wished his apprentice Darth Vader had this capability, but then Sidious thought better, remembering Anakin Skywalker’s lack of overall tact and hiding his true feelings led to an almost incredibly easy sway to the Dark Side.

But Jac appeared quite different than Vader.  Confident, without any hesitance, the young Sith wanted Sidious’ attention and knew this could mean either triumph or death.  He smiled at Sidious now with an air of smugness, and Sidious grinned back, knowing just what he wanted to do with Jac.  Yes, he might be going against the original tenants of Bane’s Rule of Two, but these were extraordinary times, in which a Sith now sat in the rule of the galaxy.

“Tell me about yourself, Jac,” Sidious said mildly, masking his excitement at the new apprentice.

Sidious listened as Jac spoke of his training on a space station in the Unknown Regions, a station full of Sith doing experiments in the Force.  Apparently, the Scholars existed for decades, perhaps centuries, unnoticed by himself or even his master.  How had this been?  Sidious would need to look into this further but pushed that thought to the back of his mind, asking about the experiments.

“Genetic manipulation,” Jac began.  “Prolonging biological life, many studies bending the rules of physics using the Force, chemical concoctions, developing new minerals and lifeforms.  Attempts in accessing other dimensions…which…well, those never produced results, but…”

Jac spoke of his own talent in Force clairvoyance, getting visions.  Sidious felt a twinge of jealousy, as he’d attempted this numerous times, and while he succeeded in many respects in seeing the future, he could not access it in the way Jac could. 

“Combat is my weakness,” Jac explained, and Sidious noticed he still did not show hesitance or doubt.  Smug indeed.  “But I make up for it in knowledge of the arcane.”

Arriving back at the palace, Sidious led Jac to the lower levels, the areas known only to a few very trusted individuals.  When Sidious showed Vader the laboratories, the former Jedi had shown mild interest.  Jac now ran from room to room like a little boy, questioning the Emperor about this and that, the research techniques, the data collected, the dissemination of knowledge.  Yes, a very different apprentice than Vader, but Sidious was a well-rounded Sith Lord and needed to hone his skills.  Vader provided another outlet for training while Jac could be a more cerebral choice, kept here in the labs, exploring the Dark Side through science.  And he had knowledge of studies Sidious never even considered.

Jac now stood beside a humanoid figure floating in an artificial amniotic liquid, smiling at the notes on the data pad.  Sidious sensed no concern for the being in the glass casing from Jac, just a thirst for knowledge.  Finally, someone with their moral compass pointing in the right direction: knowledge at all costs, one of the creeds of the Dark Side. Sidious made his decision.

In the small hours of the morning, Jac returned to his penthouse apartment, stopping just before opening the front door.  He sensed her, Callie, within the apartment, her Force signature radiating anger, sadness, and defeat.

Jac didn’t tell the Emperor about Callie, locked her down in his thoughts.  He also kept two other important items to himself: his holocron and the location of Obi-Wan Kenobi.  The former Jac never meant to reveal.  The holocron belonged to him, the secrets of the cube meant for Jac.  Darth Sidious, as Jac now knew the Emperor to be called, owned numerous holocrons.  No need for more. 

The decision not to reveal the location of the Jedi Master however struck Jac suddenly as he explained the destruction of the base, and he lied, as he so easily and effectively did, masking his deception with the Force, saying the base blew up due to a nuclear experiment gone horribly wrong.  He knew Sidious believed him because of the brief sadness and disappointment in his eyes.  As he came home in the private transport, he didn’t know exactly why he kept Kenobi hidden; he just felt he should.  Plus, the visions of the open holocron featured the older Kenobi, who would most certainly be killed by the Emperor if he knew the Jedi’s location.  No, Jac, Kenobi, and the holocron were intimately connected, and Jac kept Darth Sidious from those secrets.

Callie.

He entered the apartment quietly, seeing the fireplace roaring in the living room, Callie seated on the sofa, wearing one of his long tunics, her legs drawn up, arms and chin resting on her knees. 

Jac walked into the room, removing his bloodstained shoes, and dropped into a chair.  She did not look at him but studied the fire intently.

“Why didn’t you kill me?” she asked quietly.

“Because I’m in love with you,” he answered, surprising himself by his response.

She rose her head and looked at him in shock.

“What?”

“You’re a Jedi,” Jac said, wanting to know the full story before delving into his feelings.

“Not anymore.”

“What happened?”

Callie sighed, returning her gaze to the fire.  “He’s evil.  He’s the Sith Lord the Jedi long sought.  He’s…but you know.  You’re a Sith.”  Jac watched a single tear escape.  “And I’m evil too.”

“What happened?” Jac asked again.

“My master and I…we were on a moon in the Outer Rim with a small battalion of clone troopers.  We were supposed to intercept any Seperatist transmissions,” she began.  “Count Dooku used a base nearby before he’d been killed.  We were sent to make sure the area remained at peace.”  She began to cry.  “Even then, I was not a good Jedi.”

Jac was puzzled.  “Why?”

“One of the clones and I…we started…we would sneak off…I thought I loved him and he loved me and…and…we were just there waiting on this jungle moon,” she said slowly.  “My master found out, discovered us in the middle of…well, you know.”

Jac stared at her, wide-eyed.  Ah yes, the other man she mentioned.  A clone trooper?  Were they programmed with any sort of sexual technique?  The thought seemed humorous to Jac, but he kept quiet as she continued.

“My master was…he was so angry,” she sobbed, her body now shaking as she spoke.  “He took me into a cave where we stored ammunition and a jungle rover.  He chastised me, and I begged for him not to tell the Council.  My master…he was a good man, a good Jedi.  Not powerful like those on the Council but a kind man.  He agreed not to tell, and as we talked, we heard a sound from the cave entrance.  We turned, and they stood there…all the clones…all, including…including mine.  And they fired at us.”

Order 66, Jac thought, having learned that now. 

“My master died instantly…shot…in the head.  But I ducked behind a crate.  Their fire ignited some of the explosives in the cave, and the whole place became…became fire.”

Jac nodded, now looking at the scar on her neck.

“I don’t remember how I got out, but I did, hiding in the bushes, burnt.  Night fell.  They sat around the fire, like we’d done so many nights before, eating together, talking together, like comrades.  And they did the same, only without my master and I.  They…they killed us then had dinner,” she sniffed, regaining control, Jac noticing her eyes beginning to glow yellow.  “Or… they thought they killed us.”

The Dark Side wafted off of her, delicious, and Jac felt himself aroused.

“I waited until they were all asleep.  My clone trooper had my lightsaber, which I’d left outside the cave, attached to his belt.  I crept up, took it, ignited it, then sliced him from navel chin,” she said, her voice now steady.  “And I killed them all.  Some with my blade, some with my bare hands, some with the Force.  The last one, the captain of the company…I crushed his heart using the Force.  I never thought I could do such things.  But I did.  And it felt good.”

Jac nodded, knowing how good the Dark Side felt.

“I made my way here.  And I’ve spent months trying to get to Palpatine…”

“Darth Sidious,” Jac corrected.

She looked at him furiously.  “I was close and…this whole time.  This whole damned time.  That station you grew up on…Sith, right?”

Then Jac began to talk, telling her everything, even the things he hid from Sidious.  About the experiments and the holocrons and Dia and seeking out Palpatine as a new master.  He even spoke of Kenobi.

“He lives?” Callie asked, shocked.  “Master Kenobi…I took a seminar from him as a youngling…he’s alive.” She began crying softly again.

“Stay with me, Callie,” Jac said.  “The Sith rule now, not the Jedi.  And you’ve embraced the Dark Side and…”

“I am no longer a Jedi, Jac,” she said, then looked at him, her eyes flashing with excitement.  “But look at you, so close to the Emperor now!  We can…”

Jac shook his head, rising.  “I need him.” He shrugged.  “I am a Sith, still learning.  He is the ultimate master.”

Callie let out a little laugh, then sighed in resignation.  “And I am an employee at Imperial Human Resources.”  Her look became mischievous.  “But we will see what time will bring, Jac.”

Jac laughed and rolled his eyes, but considered.  Yes, they would see what time would bring.  Jac wasn’t above murdering Sidious, once he furthered his skills and learned from those amazing experiments in the bowels of the palace.

“May I see the holocron?” asked Callie.  “I haven’t seen one since I was last in the Temple library.”

Jac went to his wall safe, removing the cube and tossing it across the room to Callie.  He watched her study the object before placing it on the table before them.  He sat beside her on the sofa.

“Perhaps you can help me,” he said.

She laughed sarcastically.  “I just got done telling you I’m a terrible Jedi and…”

“This isn’t a Jedi holocron,” he said, picking it up and holding it in his open palm.

“How do you know?”

Jac furrowed his eyebrows.  “I guess I don’t.  I just assumed the others on the base were right.”

Callie reached up and touched the top of the cube, and suddenly, red light flashed from the holocron.  Both yelping in surprise, Callie pulled away and Jac dropped it on the cushion between them.

“What did you do?” he gasped.

“Nothing.  Just touched it and…”

“Together!” Jac shouted, realization dawning, the vision with Kenobi suddenly making sense.  “We need to hold it together.”

They met each other’s eyes, then looked down at the holocron.  Together, they reached for the cube, watching in awe as light emitted, filling the room with a strange concoction of Force energy. 

The End

 

**_Author’s Note:  Jac’s story will continue in the finale of my Obi-Wan exile trilogy,_ ** **Tatooine Sunsets _, the first chapter of which will be posted soon.  Please let me know what you thought of this story._**

**_Thank you so much for reading.  Take care, everyone!_ **


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